Sunday, May 10, 2015

Class News- May 2015


May 10 - Happy Mother’s Day to all our mothers!!
There is no more important- or more challenging- role on earth!

It is with tremendous joy and sadness that we say goodbye to our student teacher, Laura Evers. She has been with us for almost 4 months, but it seems like yesterday that she was getting to know our names, and our routines.  She was able to connect with each and every student, and make quite an impact on our classroom with her perseverence and her big heart.

She will, however, be able to join us for two upcoming events you will see elsewhere on this blog:
  • Our field trip to the North End on May 22, and
  • Our Open House on June 11! (8:15-9 am)

Here is what we have been working on in Room 6:

Butterflies! We received larva in our classroom a week ago, and they have already grown and crawled to the top of the cups to make their chrysalids.  Students love seeing this right before their eyes. Oh the wonders of nature!

Communities: Our study of communities began before vacation with interviews of people in our lives, to see what their job is and how they contribute to our community.  Thank you all for helping your child with this assignment- they were fascinating! We all chose a community worker to create… they are hanging in our hallway with clues to see if you can guess who we are! You can see them during our Open House next month.

Now we are learning about how people provide either goods or services to their community, and how producers and consumers keep our economy humming. Next we will be starting to build a miniature community right in our classroom!

Math: Our unit on 3-digit addition and subtraction has come to a close- and I told the children I was so impressed with the degree of effort they put into this.  I was also amazed with how well they were able to apply what they learned on our assessment.  Bravo!  Now we are on to data and measurement, to end our year.

Poetry: We are reading, writing and truly enjoying poetry.  It can be fun, creative, funny, inspiring, imaginative, playful… just like these children!  Watch for poetry books in the local library and bookstores, and you will find a new genre that your family can all enjoy.

Finally, thanks to everyone who sent a Flat Stanley to travel around the world.  The stories, pictures and adventures have been wonderful to share.  I am so honored that your friends and family would take the time to take these little “people” around their neighborhoods, and write such interesting letters, for your child to share with us.  Please thank them for me. Better yet- ask they to follow your child’s education through our Happy Hollow website and this blog!

It has truly been a pleasure to get to know each and every one of your children this year. We have created a classroom community in which we can take risks, learn, make mistakes, laugh, and grow in so many ways.  This may be my last update until the end of the year, so feel free to contact me for any reason.  Thank you!!!

Deborah Niles